Jeanerette’s police chief resigns in wake of arrest related to security work at Lafayette strip club

Jeanerette official accused of ignoring illegal activity

JEANERETTE — Jeanerette Police Chief Marvin Grogan, arrested recently on allegations that he turned a blind eye to illegal activity happening while working security at a Lafayette strip club, has resigned from his post.

The City Council has scheduled a special meeting for Friday at noon to discuss additional action, Foulcard said, declining further comment on the issue Thursday at Jeanerette City Hall.

Gloria Lombard, a juvenile officer with the Jeanerette Police Department for more than six years and a former detective with the Franklin Police Department, has served as interim chief since Grogan was placed on administrative leave after his arrest.

Police chiefs in Jeanerette are appointed, not elected. Grogan was appointed in May 2012 by Mayor Tim de’Clouet, who died in office in July 2013. Foulcard, then mayor pro tem, filled the role and began her second term in February after she qualified unopposed for the March 28 election.

Grogan, who’s been with the Police Department for about 19 years, was booked May 22 on a count of malfeasance in office and three counts of compounding a felony in the May 14 raid of Lipstick Gentlemen’s Club on Johnston Street.

His arrest marks the 17th in the eight-month undercover investigation, in which the club’s owner and 16 of his female employees were booked on counts ranging from obscenity and prostitution to drug distribution and exotic dancing without a permit.

“By him failing to act — that’s where the malfeasance comes in. And he was being paid,” said Capt. Dwayne Prejean, of the Lafayette Metro Narcotics Task Force, which led the investigation.

Prejean said Grogan was present on three occasions while narcotics agents built cases on prostitution, obscenity, and drug use and distribution at the club, where Grogan told investigators he worked off and on for about a decade.

“Our position is that he — either directly or indirectly — he made no effort to notify law enforcement. We’re not saying the man should have personally arrested people there. We think he should have notified someone in the law enforcement community. But he didn’t,” Prejean said.

Follow Lanie Lee Cook on Twitter, @lanieleecook, or contact her by phone at (337) 534-0825.